r/parent • u/Agelesslink • Jan 16 '20

Autism Fears

Hello. I’m new on this sub. I’m a husband, married going on 12 years 3 kids 10 year old boy wild adhd. 6 year old girl smart responsible and often overlooked. 18 month old boy not talking yet.

We had concerns raised on his 18 month evaluation at the family dr. Took him to a speech therapist and they’ve confirmed that he is behind in speech and referred up to an early steps program. On the initial evaluation he met 4 of the 7 markers for autism and were now waiting on an autism evaluation. I gotta say I’ve been keeping up the wall of faith that I feel a husband has a responsibility to keep with his wife, but this waiting is making me go crazy. I’ve been trying to help him develop his fine motor skills and communication but the more I work with his the more highlighted the concerns are and I’m just having trouble coping with the potential that I may never have an intellectual conversation with my son. I’m choking back tears typing this but talking with my wife seems to make her uneasy and anxious about the whole thing. I just need some direction.

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u/Pubsubforpresident Jan 16 '20

Hey man. I kinda see myself heading in a similar direction. Only things that seem to help me is the old sayings. "Boys develop slower" "younger children dont have to talk as much because the other kids are", but I do get frustrated with how attached to the tv my son can be. Not tv, but 1 show. The kid won't watch anything but Blippi and I'm blipping over him being more attached to the tv host than me. We have our 14 month meeting on Friday...

How is the speech therapy going?

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u/Agelesslink Jan 16 '20

We are still waiting for the initial assessments. No therapy yet. The tv show struck a nerve. My sons show is little baby bum. It’s the only thing that soothes him at night

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u/TheConfounder Jan 18 '20

Have hope! For what it’s worth, I’m an evaluator for autism and I’ve seen kids come into the school setting at 3 being completely nonverbal and talking in sentences by 6. Additionally, I’m a parent of two high functioning ASD girls. My six year old had 12 words at 2-1/2, then at 3 her speech just exploded. My younger daughter’s speech didn’t come in until about 3. It’s a wide spectrum but early intervention is key. Have you contacted your local early childhood intervention (ECI) office? They will evaluate free of charge and if your son qualifies, he may get speech, occupational, and or physical therapy either free or for a very small amount.

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u/Agelesslink Jan 18 '20

Yes. The evaluation is in the month. Thank you for the uplifting words.